Studio Ghibli, perhaps the most well known Japanese animation studio in the west, will soon be releasing a new film that didn’t include any of the senior staff.

The studio responsible for dozens of beloved films over the decades, including Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle, has also lent their talents to shorts, commercials, and video games. Of the 10 highest grossing animated films ever made in Japan, six are Ghibli titles, and five of their films have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Goro Myazaki, son of Studio Ghibli and famed Director Hayao Miyazaki, stated that while working on his upcoming film Earwig and the Witch that, “I didn’t consult with any of the old guys at all.” He commented on the fact that this project was a fully 3DCG film and that, “I was the only one among the people at Ghibli who knows that method of creation, so I was able to push the project forward without consulting with anyone. Hayao Miyazaki told me to go ahead with it, and producer Toshio Suzuki encouraged me, saying that it seemed like a fine idea, but after that, I was left to my own devices. I was basically abandoned, so I made the anime with a young staff and didn’t consult with the old guys at all.”

This will be the third film Goro Miyazaki has directed at Ghibli after Tales from Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill. Earwig and the Witch is based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones, who also wrote the novel that inspired Howl’s Moving Castle. Goro wants his film to be an encouragement to children and adults during these difficult times. The film will premier on the NHK General channel at the end of this year, and will come to North American theaters sometime early in 2021.

Ghibli’s reputation as one of the greatest animated film studios of all time often falls on the work of Hayao Miyazaki. While he has fallen under some criticism for his unorthodox and authoritative directing style, there is no question that the films he works on are of amazing quality. While his son Goro has been attempting to carve out his own name as a director, including this film being CG rather than traditionally animated, many feel he has yet to come out of his father’s shadow.

As difficult as it can be, the fact that new voices and talent within Ghibli are getting a chance to create a film all their own is a great step forward for the studio. They can only rely on the senior staff for so long before things are forced to change.

Source: Anime News Network